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SPOILER THREAD - Man of Steel: Superman 2013

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http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=61916769&postcount=251

Good place to start

Foxy Fox 39 said:
Hey Gaf! Just got back from an advance screening. Here is my initial reaction. I'll try to stay away from plot spoilers but still. Don't click if you don't want trouble. I'll delete this post if I shouldn't be posting this.


The first ten minutes of the movie may be a bit of a herring for the rest of the movie. Its rushed, it doesn't make sense even though they tried explaining it, and it felt a bit like a straight to DVD scene; acting dialog, choreography and plot made little sense. And yes I know they ripped a bunch from Supes Earth One. Productions values were spot on throughout though.

With that said I'll give a quick rundown of pros and cons

Pros:
+Amazing 3D. Probably the best I've EVER SEEN. The 3D alone is worth the price of admission. Now I know some theaters are different than others - I saw hobbit 3 times and the 3D was different for each - but this was literally the best 3D I've seen. For the umpteenth time it shows me that 3D is actually useful and is here to stay.

+ Special Effects. I'd say it rivals any recent movie. I was constantly amazed by the visual fidelity. They really dotted their I's and crossed their T's. Again, 3D with the effects are worth it.

+ Cinematography and Visual Aesthetic. These were mostly good. Very Dark Knight-esque maybe even a bit more darker in tone. I enjoyed the feel of the movie very much.

+Destruction. OMG ITS GLORIOUS. So much fighting and killing and destruction. Again. Worth it for this. Supes going through tons of buildings and all sorts of stuff.

+ Fighting is Brutal

Cons:
- Story. Sometimes the plot made absolutely no sense. I don't want to ruin it for you guys but there are some very huge hiccups. Three.notable ones are at the beginning of the movie, somewhere in the middle (with Mr. Kent) and at the end. A lot of nonsensical decisions were made and really took me out of the movie.

- Tone. The tone was too serious, overdramatic, and a bit whiny at times. It was like a drama at all points. The melodramatic piano was a staple throughout the entire film along with very slow moving scenes. A lot of it felt insincere and simply used to tug at our heartstrings. I don't mind a serious tone at all, it just didnt feel genuine or well executed.

- Dialog. Probably the worst part about the movie. Very cartoony. Unrealistic. Robotic at times and just plain awful. Mostly everyone was OK. Again there were scenes where REALLY ODD things were said just to fill space. Sometimes it's OK NOT to speak! Im looking at a ton of scenes but you'll laugh at the bank vault army scene. Hilariously bad. THE WORST OFFENDER AND I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH IS ZOD (MICHAEL SHANNON). His delivery is so bad you wont want to finish the movie. He is clearly acting, and acting bad. Think of a theater play. But a bad theater play. The first scene in the movie is only an appetizer for whats to come.

- Pace. The pace is terrible and this matches in with the story. Pace is terrible. There is very little rhythm to the movie. They build up so much momentum for superman to become superman and when he finally dons the suit they don't even show it. And there is no proper focus when he puts it on. It's supposed to mean something but its such a small part that they ignored. UGH! It amazes me how they spent so much time over-dramatizing certain scenes and pointless events and completely DROP the ball when it comes to the important things. So to recap: Important things in the story are rushed and barely explained but useless chaff is constantly being centered on to drive home manufactured emotion.

- Fighting Movements. Combat was weird. Was cool to see trucks being thrown and buildings literally flattened but the movements were really video-gamey. For some reason they think at all times superman and his enemies need to move lightning fast. It looked jarring and out of place for how good everything else in the film looked.

- Ending is controversial. I didnt mind but I can see it as a negative. That's all I'll say. If you want more PM me.


In all I give it a 6. It was fun to watch. Eye porn definitely but if you're expecting this to be like Begins you need to adjust your expectations. I'll prolly write some more and answer questions if anyone wants in the coming days. I'm glad I saw it and I may watch it again but seriously guys. Keep expectations low so you wont be disappointed. Think about how polarizing The Amazing Spiderman and that might be close to what you should expect. I will say if Micheal Shannon werent in this the movie would have gotten at least a 7 maybe an 8. :/
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To clarify I think.Michael Shannon is a great actor, but for whatever reason (script, director?) he did not work for this film.

And the pace is weird but I do enjoy what they were trying to do. I just don't think it was executed properly.

I can't stress enough that you should see it. It's worth seeing more than ASM but I think soon after the hype of seeing superman almost done right on the big screen wears down people will start realizing what they got.

I could be a total snob though.

edit: I think dialog is going to be the most jarring for moviegoers. And Supermans awkward smokers cough/wheezing.
 
I agree with you on the pace. It's way too fast. The suit part jarred me a lot since no mention of it was even given. Clark himself needed more development. Could've done away with some scenes like the Oil Rig actually.

Too many flashbacks probably...well they are too short anyway.

Krypton exploded really fast. I don't understand why they sentenced Zod in 2 minutes later the place blew up. That was weird, it was like they didn't give a shit.

Clark and Lois in the scout ship, also weird. No idea how she even saw him on her camera, and was she even there to look for him or what?

Critics will rip this movie and as far as I can tell you can blame Goyer.

It's a good start but it won't be universally loved and there are clear faults (if I can see em)
 
Sent said:
I agree with you on the pace. It's way too fast. The suit part jarred me a lot since no mention of it was even given. Clark himself needed more development. Could've done away with some scenes like the Oil Rig actually.

Too many flashbacks probably...well they are too short anyway.

Krypton exploded really fast. I don't understand why they sentenced Zod in 2 minutes later the place blew up. That was weird, it was like they didn't give a shit.

Clark and Lois in the scout ship, also weird. No idea how she even saw him on her camera, and was she even there to look for him or what?

Critics will rip this movie and as far as I can tell you can blame Goyer.

It's a good start but it won't be universally loved and there are clear faults (if I can see em)
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THANK YOU! I'm so freaking happy im not the only one who saw this. I could have written 4 pages on the problems the movie had but I wanted to keep it short.

I came out of the theater and tried to voice some of my opinions to some comic book people I know and completely hit a dead wall. lol. They'll join me in the sun in a few months.
 
I don't see how Superman could've dealt with Zod any other way, though. In context of the movie, he pretty much has no choice but to do what he did.

And way too many people seem to know his 'secret' identity.
 
Yeah, if its in the context of the movie, then that's understandable. Maybe. I'm a diehard fan of most everything, but I can accept changes if it does not stray too far from the character (unlike what Nolan did with Batman in TDKR in which Batman just quits for 7 fucking years) and can appreciate different interpretations of a property if it's done well.

Speaking of shitty interpretations, man Superman Returns was so awful.
 
Scarecrow said:
I don't see how Superman could've dealt with Zod any other way, though. In context of the movie, he pretty much has no choice but to do what he did.

And way too many people seem to know his 'secret' identity.
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His identity isn't really even addressed, which was a little odd. He didn't seem to give a shit who know who he was.
 
I'm really surprised at Shannon being a terrible Zold. I mean, man is brilliant and has the right face to play a intergalactic villain, I was mostly looking forward to his performance since it could have been the reason to watch this movie, how the fuck can you screw it up?
 
Currygan said:
I'm really surprised at Shannon being a terrible Zold. I mean, man is brilliant and has the right face to play a intergalactic villain, I was mostly looking forward to his performance since it could have been the reason to watch this movie, how the fuck can you screw it up?
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Did someone say he's terrible or are you saying that?
 
I refuse your reviews and reality and replace them with my own (optimism).

EDIT - Would you guys say this is a better series opener than Batman Begins? Or on par?
 
RileyLewis said:
I refuse your reviews and reality and replace them with my own (optimism).

EDIT - Would you guys say this is a better series opener than Batman Begins? Or on par?
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Batman Begins was a better opener.

What is the best line in the movie. Is there anything that stands out?
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The line that mentions the word Superman stands out.
 
RileyLewis said:
I'm still holding out hope that you 2 are being too critical, as most other early impressions are very positive.
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You do not have to hold out hope, these are the only two I have seen in all of the internet that has been this negative. And I have searched. Everyone else seems to be in shock of how good it was.
 
Liquidsnake said:
You do not have to hold out hope, these are the only two I have seen in all of the internet that has been this negative. And I have searched. Everyone else seems to be in shock of how good it was.
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Jean Murphey didn't like it, and there was one blogger who said his friends weren't too happy with what they saw.

This is what he said.

"I haven't seen Man Of Steel yet, but from those that have (and are under embargo) I've heard it's abysmal. 4 or 5 said go in with way, way lowered expectation, and that they've removed all sense of character from the film"

Was that proven as fake though? I don't know.
 
Betty said:
Jean Murphey didn't like it, and there was one blogger who said his friends weren't too happy with what they saw.

This is what he said.

"I haven't seen Man Of Steel yet, but from those that have (and are under embargo) I've heard it's abysmal. 4 or 5 said go in with way, way lowered expectation, and that they've removed all sense of character from the film"

Was that proven as fake though? I don't know.
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Sounds fake. Abysmal to me means on the level of Catwoman/Daredevil.
 
I haven't seen it, but I read Badass Digest a lot and tweeted Devin Faraci asking about the embargo and if he was gonna review it. He gave a really short, stern reply saying "I've seen it." and there were some subtweets implying he was less than ecstatic about it.

You have to factor in that he cut TDKR very little slack, but I trust him as far as being able to highlight genuine faults, if not have my exact preferences. That and this thread mean I'm lowering my expectations somewhat.

Somehow the biggest thing getting me down on this is the idea that they don't address the secret identity. If Batman Begins was meant to deconstruct Batman, I don't know how you do the same to Superman and not address his double life.

Still very interested to see it for myself and see if people in large part are mixed or for/against it.
 
homelessbaby said:
I haven't seen it, but I read Badass Digest a lot and tweeted Devin Faraci asking about the embargo and if he was gonna review it. He gave a really short, stern reply saying "I've seen it." and there were some subtweets implying he was less than ecstatic about it.

You have to factor in that he cut TDKR very little slack, but I trust him as far as being able to highlight genuine faults, if not have my exact preferences. That and this thread mean I'm lowering my expectations somewhat.

Somehow the biggest thing getting me down on this is the idea that they don't address the secret identity. If Batman Begins was meant to deconstruct Batman, I don't know how you do the same to Superman and not address his double life.

Still very interested to see it for myself and see if people in large part are mixed or for/against it.
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Read Superman Earth One. It's very similar to that.

They did but didn't touch on his secret identity. Clark Kent the reporter was just a nod at the end. It made sense why he chose to be a reporter but most of the first two acts were dealing with him being a bit of a nomadic guardian angel who assumed many different names. This movie was more of a setup for things to come in that regard? Im not sure if I agree with what they did but I'm just telling you how it is. His double life as a reporter might have been too much for this first movie -- im not sure.

Though, since Clark has talked to just about everyone on the planet and everyone on the planet KNOWS LOIS LANE and that she's connected to superman, I find it hard to stomach that Clark could keep a secret identity as a reporter for the daily planet. Everyone in the next movie may have to have collective amnesia or face-blindness.
 
People shouldn't really be surprised its not all wine and roses right? Or did some of you actually believe that everyone was going to love this movie?
 
Foxy Fox 39 said:
Though, since Clark has talked to just about everyone on the planet and everyone on the planet KNOWS LOIS LANE and that she's connected to superman, I find it hard to stomach that Clark could keep a secret identity as a reporter for the daily planet. Everyone in the next movie may have to have collective amnesia or face-blindness.
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I'm just gonna assume he's gonna 'work' from home. :D
 
And as someone who knows the ending spoiler, I know it's just gonna ruin the movie for some people. No mAtter how much they liked the movie up until that point
 
Is there a reason this spoiler thread doesn't have spoilers? I've already decided not to see it but I am interested in the details of their take on the material.
 
Yeah, I have no intention of seeing this (cannot get into Superman whatsoever) and am curious about the ending issue as well.
 
sketchsanchez said:
Some people are such babies about it that it's hard to not use caution even if given permission. It's involuntary in a way.
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I suppose that is true considering how some of the other spoiler threads have gone.

well, if pms go out I would be happy to get one. I'm not sure if "happy" is the word considering the impression I'm getting from this thread.
 
The part he's referring to is near the end is - ENDING SPOILERS:

When Superman has Zod in a rear choke at the end of their battle. Zod lights up his heat vision and is slowly about to annihlate a family cowering in the corner of the building they just crashed into. Zod doesn't give a shit and is about to burn the family into dust. Superman has no choice but to snap his neck and kill him.
 
Sent said:
The part he's referring to is near the end is - ENDING SPOILERS:

When Superman has Zod in a rear choke at the end of their battle. Zod lights up his heat vision and is slowly about to annihlate a family cowering in the corner of the building they just crashed into. Zod doesn't give a shit and is about to burn the family into dust. Superman has no choice but to snap his neck and kill him.
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Not the biggest Superman fan in the world, but I take no issue with that at all.
 
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